WRITTEN by Kris Kristofferson and Monument Records founder Fred Foster in 1969, this contains one of my all-time favourite lyrics:
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Janis Joplin recorded it a few days before her death in October 1970 and it became her only No 1 hit in 1971.
I am not a Joplin fan and I don’t think she does the song well at all.
Here it is by Kristofferson.
It’s good, but by far the best version to me is by the Grateful Dead in a live performance on their 1971 album Grateful Dead, recorded at Fillmore East, New York.